Situation Ethics

Question 1

What are the Fundamental Principles?

Answer 1

1. Love is always good
2. Love is the only norm
3. Love is justice distributed.
4. Love is wanting the best for everyone.
5. Love is the only means.
6. Love decides there and then.

Question 2

What was JAT Robinson’s book called and what is the controversial idea that it suggested?

Answer 2

JAT Robinson’s book was called ‘Honest to God’ which rejected the idea of God being ‘up there’ but to recognise the fact that God is ‘out there’ and the ground of all being. JAT Robinson shared this idea with Tillich.

Question 3

JAT Robinson quoted ‘man come of age’ … what does this mean?

Answer 3

JAT Robinson referred to people as ‘man come of age’ which means that people can freely choose and make their own decisions to what they believe and the pathways they choose to take. This idea supports Fletcher’s “pragma not dogma” approach which explains about doing the most practical thing and not always following the rules.

Question 4

List the two different types of morality and Fletcher’s own approach to morality.

Answer 4

Legalism: based solely on laws

Anomitalism: every situation judged individually

Fletcher’s Situationalism: applying ethical theories to situations

Question 5

Who highlighted the four principles of situation ethics in “The Puzzle of Ethics?

Answer 5

Vardy and Grosch

Question 6

Which principle rejects such absolutes as “never” and “always” because all situations should be judged as individual and unique?

Answer 6

Relativism

Question 7

Explain personalism.

Answer 7

People, not laws, must be put first in any given situation, and one must aim to achieve the most loving outcome. For example, a woman stealing food to feed her starving children would be acceptable according to this principle

Question 8

If a decision is made with love and is the most important consideration of all, which principle would this apply to?

Answer 8

Positivism

Question 9

What is agape?

Answer 9

Agape is self sacrificing, divine, unconditional love that is shown by Jesus.

Question 10

What are the four working principles?

Answer 10

Relativism, Pragmatism, Positivism and Personalism

Question 11

Explain proportionalism?

Answer 11

The principle that Christian moral laws should be upheld unless there are better (proportional) reasons to set them aside. Such as the unique situations that Fletcher suggested.

Question 12

How is the concept of agape love flawed?

Answer 12

Situation Ethics seems prepared to accept any action or act at all, so long as it fits the criteria; someone may say that something has a loving end when in reality they are simply justifying a wrong act. For example, if someone was on life support and a relative decided to take them off said life support, they could justify it by saying that it was the “most loving thing” to do, when in actuality they have killed their relative.

Question 13

Which argument led to JAT Robinson’s dismissal of Situation Ethics?

Answer 13

William Barclay claimed that it was impossible for individuals to make decisions that show the most agape love towards strangers as agape love is unconditional. How can a stranger show unconditional love towards someone whom they’ve only just met? For example, using Fletcher’s unique situation of The Burning House, who in reality would save a doctor over their own father. Barclay claimed that this way of thinking was simply too idealistic, and led to Robinson dismissing the Ethic.

Question 14

Which argument led to Joseph Fletcher’s Atheistic views?

Answer 14

William Barclay claimed that Situation Ethics’s take on there being no absolute moral law completely contradicted the Bible’s Decalogue which specifically states things that are always wrong no matter the situation. For example, “thou shalt not commit adultery”. Therefore, Situation Ethics cannot claim to be a generally religious ethic, despite it’s basis on the teachings of Jesus - it is this argument that led to Fletcher becoming an atheist.

Question 15

What does “pragma not dogma” mean?

Answer 15

Fletcher suggests that you should make a decision on the basis of practicality not religious rules.

Question 16

Who said “love is the ultimate law”?

Answer 16

Tillich

Question 17

Quote from Joseph Fletcher that summarises the whole s Situation Ethics.

Answer 17

‘Do the most loving thing’

Question 18

Who said ‘love with care and then what will, do’? What does this quote mean?

Answer 18

St Augustine.

If you use agape as a guiding principle then you will not do wrong.

Question 19

Explain ‘Positivism’.

Answer 19

One must accept that acting in the most loving way is the right thing to do without any rational proof that it is. Love provides justification, not proof, for an ethical decision. agape is morally right without question. Faith is important!

Question 20

Explain ‘Pragmatism’

Answer 20

Ethics should be practical, it is important that ethical theories work in real life not just in an idealised society.

Question 21

What was Joseph Fletcher’s unique situation involving the crying baby?

Answer 21

A group of North Americans (cowboys) were hiding from a group of Native Americans (Indians). In their group was a baby who starting crying. The noise the baby was making was alerting the people trying to find the group and if it continued then they would have been discovered by the Native Americans and killed. So the group had to make the tough decision to kill the baby to protect the rest of the group.

Question 22

What is the unique situation concerning Mrs Bergermeir?

Answer 22

During WWII Mrs Bergermeir? was placed in a concentration camp. To escape the concentration camp and to return to her husband and kids she had to commit sacrificial adultery with one of the guards. When she became pregnant she was set free and so could rejoin her family and care for them

Question 23

What social changes in the 1960’s influenced the development of Situation Ethics and why?

Answer 23

The Vietnam war - The War lasted almost 20 years, ending many lives and physically/mentally scarring many more. This caused Americans to question the wisdom and authority and the US government so then the Bible

Sexual liberation - Women had more control over their bodies and what they do with them (contraception. abortion) and more people were deciding to have sex out of wedlock which made them question the authority of the Bible as it teaches that sex is only for married couples.

Drugs opened peoples minds and made them question the Bible because people were being cured by drugs e.g cannabis granny. And so again they were going against the absolutist rules in the Bible as they found it could help people.

Question 24

Why is the concept of personalism a strength?

Answer 24

Allows the individual to make their own decisions. Acting out of love frees us from having to follow established authorities of which we have become distrustful.
Robinson: “The only ethics for the man come of age”.

Question 25

Why is the concept of agape love a strength?

Answer 25

Agape motivates people to change things for the better, to get rid of discrimination, help those who are poor etc.
Change is needed, and a system of rules doesn’t help bring about change.

Question 26

Why is the concept of relativism a strength?

Answer 26

Flexible, allowing individualised responses to different contexts. Rules are useful, but there are exceptions.

Question 27

What did the US taxi driver say to Fletcher when discussing voting for the upcoming US election?

Answer 27

“Sometimes you have to put your principles aside and do what is right”

Question 28

Quote from Fletcher about not using the Bible absolutely

Answer 28

“Either cheap
melancholy or utter
frustration will follow if we turn the Bible into a rule book”

Question 29

Quote from Fletcher about the relative nature of agape

Answer 29

“Love relativises the absolute, it does not absolute the relative”

Question 30

Quote from Fletcher about the importance of viewing the Bible situationally.

Answer 30

“Prophetic words are never detached from the concrete, historical situation. Theirs is not a timeless, abstract
message. It always refers to a situation”

Question 31

Quote from Fletcher about pragmatism

Answer 31

“Pragma not dogma”

Question 32

Quote from Desmond Tutu regarding personalism

Answer 32

How can you love God who you cannot see, if you cannot love your neighbour who you can see”

Question 33

Explain why Dawkins believes that anyone who follows Situation Ethics is “A sucker!’

Answer 33

He argues that being kind to those you are not kind to you allows other to take advantage of you. subsequently Dawkins argues that agape is not a good basis for ethics.

Question 34

Explain relativism

Answer 34

The view that there are no universal moral norms, but that an action should be judged right or wrong depending on the social, cultural and individual circumstances in each situation.

Question 35

List five strengths of Situation Ethics

Answer 35

1. It is consistent with the ministry of Jesus
2. Situation ethics is flexible and practical. It takes in to account how complex human life is and can make tough decisions when, from a legalistic stance, all actions seem wrong
3. It is easy to understand: you follow a single principle
4. You don’t have to follow a conventional rule, if that goes against your deepest sense of what love requires.
5. It is based on love, which, rationally as well as emotionally, is a key feature of all moral systems.

Question 36

List 7 weaknesses of Situation Ethics

Answer 36

1. It is subjective – we don’t always have the fact to make a sound decision
2. It is individualistic – what is the most loving thing to one, is not to another
3. It is prepared to accept any actions as long as the outcome is supposed to be loving
4. It is inconsistent with some teachings in the Bible
5. How often do we face extreme cases where it is obvious what the most loving thing is? People need to be practical and Fletcher’s illustrations aren’t relevant for most people
6. People need laws and rules to spell out behaviour in order to keep us all safe and singing from the same song sheet
7. People would mean to do the most loving thing but our personal preferences and wants will always get in the way

Question 37

What are William Barcalay’s three criticisms of Situation Ethics?

Answer 37

1. Fletcher’s unique situations are too extreme.
2. There is no clear criteria for when the laws should be abandoned.
3. Individuals cannot make moral decisions easily using agape - they might be swayed by emotion, fear or selfishness.

Question 38

What are Pope Pius XII’s three criticisms of Situation Ethics

Answer 38

1. It’s individualistic - agape will be spoilt by humankind’s natural tendency to be selfish.. Parents for instance would not show equal love to their children as to a stranger.
2. You cannot accurately predict the consequences of an action.
3. It is permissible - What is believed to be a loving end by some could justify actions that many people would regard as wrong